In applications using cables such as wire rope or wound cables under tension, there is difficulty in accurately setting and adjusting the tension to maintain a desired level, and it requires that separate components be used to achieve each of the measurement and adjustment-setting objectives.
In many applications, the measured tension and adjustment capability in a cable system are important factors for safety, sustained operation, and system balance. For example, small scale operations such as cable operated control surfaces in aircraft, mast stays for sailboats, and rigging for tents and canopies, guide wires, and man loads, for example, require accurate balance of controllable tension. In these and higher load systems such as walkway railings, highway cable guard rails, and bridge stays, there is often a failure in the means and methods used to set initial tension in a cable system, allow for easy visual inspection of the system during its use, and provide better maintenance of system tension during temperature-related cable expansion and contraction.
Under conventional approaches, a device such as a turnbuckle can be used to connect tensioned cables in a cable system, and a separate measurement device is then used for measuring the tension in the system. Adjusting, measuring, and setting the tension for a preferred tension level is a slow and inefficient process, however, due to the fact that the measurement and adjusting-setting means are not integrated. Measurement of the cable tension in the system must first be made using a separate measurement device, and then adjustment and setting to the system must be made based on the first set of measurements, through an imprecise approximation process, followed by another iteration of the measurement, adjustment, and setting stages, and so on. Thus, there is a need that exists in the art to address these deficiencies and inadequacies.